CAPE GIRARDEAU MAN HAS WHOPPER OF A FISH TALE

Jim Poyner says his fish story isn't phony.

The 30-year-old Cape Girardeau man says Big-Head carp have jumped into his boat on shallow Mississippi River backwaters in Mississippi County.

He's not just hooking people with a tall tale. It's true, he said. And he has a videotape to prove it.

He hopes America's Funniest Home Videos will take the bait and put him on the air.

The producers of the show have mailed him paperwork to fill out for a possible appearance on the show.

He figures he could win the $10,000 prize and qualify for the $100,000 round.

"I think I have got a good chance," said Poyner. "I am trying to make something out of it."

All this because he happened to go out fishing with a friend on the evening of Aug. 23.

He and 14-year-old Mikie Tatum of Sikeston were fishing the backwaters near Big Oak Tree State Park.

"This one particular spot is about two miles long," he said. The water ranges from about 2 feet deep to a depth of 6 or 7 feet at the deepest spot.

With the boat motor running, carp suddenly began jumping into the boat, Poyner said.

In four hours, they caught 100 fish, including some that weighed 30 pounds.

"A fish hit me on the head," said Poyner. "It was like a scene from the `Anaconda' movie."

Poyner said he and his friend almost tipped the boat trying to deal with all the fish.

Said Poyner, "I have never seen anything like it."

Poyner used to work for a barge company on the river. He lost that job after suffering a back injury last December.

Missouri Conservation Department officials have suggested the vibration of the boat motor caused the fish to jump out of the water, Poyner said.

Whatever the reason, Poyner said the fish flocked to his boat.

The carp were brought over from Eastern Asian 17 years ago. They escaped from a fish farm in Arkansas and have been breeding ever since.

After his first adventure with the jumping fish, Poyner hired a company to videotape his Aug. 27 afternoon visit to the fishing spot.

The videotape showed carp jumping out of the water and into the boat.

Since then, he has taken a couple television news crews on his "fishing" trips.

Without hook, line or sinker, he has bagged plenty of fish.

"I am no big fisherman," said Poyner. He doesn't even own the boat. He borrows it from a friend.

Poyner doesn't eat the fish. He throws them back in the water. "I wouldn't like to eat them. They are too bony."

But Poyner figures all those jumping fish could land him some cash if his video airs on the TV show.

"I smell money," he said with a smile. There's nothing fishy about that, he reasons.